Thanksgiving week, my old college friend, Rick, was in town, along with his family, and various and sundry relatives. Part of the plan was to get together and (as he said) let the kids see how "a professional D&D player" played... I had to laugh, when he called me that (as I've never gotten paid for it), but agreed.
After saying hello, meeting the two of his kids that I hadn't seen before, lunch at my house, Thanksgiving dinner at his mom's house, and generally meeting his relatives and schmoozing, we cleaned off the kitchen table, and set up to play some D&D. Since nothing was prepared, no one had characters, etc., he pretty much had me help the players get some PCs, and he winged a quick sort-of adventure...
Rick's two sons, Brian (who I'd met once before, five years ago or so), and his little brother, Keith, had played before, with their dad, but Keith was barely old enough to understand the "To-Hit" mechanic, and was often more interested in "fighting the action figures" with each other... Not sure on his age, but it was single digit.
[Edit: He's seven; see NYRickGrant's post, below.]
Kniall's two sons, both of whom were teenagers, also played. They had heard of the game, but I don't think that either one of them had ever played, before. Since time was short, we skipped skills and equipment, except for weapons and armor. We covered BAB, HPs, generated stats, and selected races & classes. Once we had PCs, we began.
We had a Half-Orc Barbarian (Jeremy, Kniall's oldest son), a Human Fighter (Taylor, his youngest), a Druid (whose race I forget) played by Brian, and a Dwarven Fighter played by Keith, along with my Elven Rogue, all at first level, to start...
We began in the newly-formed kingdom of (I forget the name, but it had one -- honest!), where we worked for Lord Karl. Rick (the GM) briefly described how we had fought the Snow Queen (who the commoners also "got wrong" and called her the "Burger Queen"), and the Orcs of the Black Talon, and made a big to-do over how the people of this little fiefdom kow-towed to us, every time they saw us, 'cause we were so famous, and what-not...
Then he described us being in this town just being built, and the guy who ran the bar, and how he used to be an adventurer, and how he liked us, and so on. Jeremy (H-O Barb's player) asked why we didn't get free drinks, then... The GM showed his mastery of the game by replying that some of us could drink a lot, and the poor man hadda make a profit!
Anyway, we were sittin' in the bar, when the barkeep came over and told us that Fegin, a man he knew and trusted, had reported that a scout had found signs of Black Talon Orcs up in the hills, nearby. Meanwhile, the barkeep kept watching (and swatting) a young man who was trying to eat the nuts kept on the bar... So my PC asked who this Fegin was, and where we could find him, and bought the youngster his own bowl of nuts (at which point the GM described his rapturous response of "Oh! I'm not going to eat these! I'm going to take them home and frame them, and hang them on the wall!"). Then he went back to trying to eat the ones on the bar, and getting swatted by the barkeep...
Anyway, we found out where Fegin should be, and headed off there, while the GM described the town being built. Along the way, he described the H-O being bumped into by a dirty, shifty little character. Jeremy (the Barbarian's player) looked at the GM funny, but didn't say anything. I said I was looking to see if the NPC had swiped his purse, and rolled a 1!
Fortunately, Taylor, the Human Fighter, quickly said that he was making a Spot, too, and rolled better... The GM said "You see the shifty little man bump into the Half-Orc, and you see Eredave look around at him, but he doesn't see anything, but YOU look around at the same time, and see that he has the purse that used to be on the Half-Orc's belt in his hand!" Surprisingly, the H-O had nothing to say, but Taylor's PC quickly apprehended the thief.
The thief quickly made some protestations that no one believed, until Eredave wrapped a chain around his neck, then he offered us some information to get himself out of the jam... It seems he had heard about a planned revolt against Lord Karl. My PC quickly decided that Lord Karl needed to hear about this from the horse's mouth, so off we went to find him...
The GM then asked how we were securing the prisoner, and had me describe my Manriki-Gusari, and talked about equipment, and personalizing PCs. He then described our heading away from the wall where we'd been going to find Fegin, and going to what would be the Lord's hall, when it was finished. Lord Karl wasn't there. So I asked one of the workmen where he was, got directions, and was told to tell him that so-and-so engineer needed more supplies of (whatever). So we followed directions, found Lord Karl, and had the thief tell him about the rumours that he had heard.
One of the architects seemed to take too much interest in this tale, and when I told the Lord that so-and-so engineer needed supplies X, the Lord sent him off to attend to it, and he didn't want to go. I succeeded in a Sense Motive roll, and didn't trust him. We informed Lord Karl of that, as well as the rumours of the Black Talon Orcs, and he was much worried...
He asked what we knew, and we said not much, yet, but we had been on our way to check on it. He said that, with this revolt, he'd have his hands full, so he'd leave the orcs to us. We left the thief with him and his guards (along with warnings not to trust the architect), and went off, once again, to find this man, Fegin.
Arriving at the walls where the barkeep had told me Fegin was stationed, we asked the first guard we met where he was, and were told he was up on such-and-such wall, standing guard. We went up, found him, and got the story from him.
He'd sent out a young scout, someone he trusted, and he'd come back with a scrap of cloth with the Black Talon on it. We asked where from, and he told us in the hills just to the north of town. I asked what we'd need to get there, and he said not much, it was just a short walk, but if we were going, he'd like to go with us. I asked about the young scout, but he said he was a good man, but probably too green to fight Black Talon Orcs, so we agreed to meet back "here" in an hour, and went to get our gear.
This was quickly followed by a short, glossed-over hike up into the hills, where Fegin told us that this was the area the scout had found the scrap in. We then began looking for tracks, etc. Unfortunately, I kept rolling 1s, a lot, which was good for the new players, I guess... We finally found some tracks, but I couldn't tell then from a rabbit's! One of the other fighters finally identified it as a kobold's.
The next thing you know, we concluded the adventure with a daylight fight against a small horde of screaming kobolds. Almost everyone got to dodge their sling stones, and waste a couple (except me, but I took out the largest clump of them with a Tanglefoot Bag, creating some prisoners). At the end of our first session, we found poor Fegin dead in a trap...
Next, we advanced our PCs to fifth level, got better armour and a magic weapon, more HPs and AC, and continued the same plotline. We were still on the trail of the old Black Talon Orcs; much feared, but not seen for years. Now, we were trying to track down the kobolds to their lair, knowing that they usually didn't come out in sunlight.
The Half-Orc & Human Fighters went back to town (and out of this story), along with the kobold prisoners, while my Elven Ranger/Rogue, the Druid, and the Dwarven Fighter continued on. Eventually, we found an entrance to an underground complex, and started searching for traps, etc. I rolled more 1s...
We found a complex, several doors, overheard some Orcs yelling about their stupid Kobold slaves, and doors slamming. We sneaked around for a while, and the young players spread out too much. The youngest, hearing Orcs coming, opened a door, charged through it, knocked one down with the door, and killed another with his attack. Then more orcs started pouring in through another door... You guessed it, the much-feared but little-seen Black Talon Orcs, in droves!
Despite their superior numbers, running didn't seem to occur to the kids playing, but Keith's Dwarf did at least shut and lock the door he had just charged through, so the orcs beat on that one with the head of one of their fellows...
Meanwhile, I locked the door that I had been listening at, and the Druid and I moved up to take on the rest, while the Dwarf moved up behind us on his turn.
Standing at the corner of a wall (for partial cover), I let fly with another Tanglefoot Bag, trying to seal the doorway, but only managed to glue one Orc. Fortunately, between the three of us, we managed to do for the rest, then grab a tunic (with the Black Talon symbol on it), and the GM and I finally managed to convince the young players that we didn't know how many Orcs were behind those doors, so we'd better scoot back to Lord Karl, and tell him what we'd found... so that concluded our short campign.
Along the way, we had quite a bit of comedy (like my PC searching for traps, rolling 1s, and commenting that "If I find any traps, it's the HARD way!"). There were also some teaching experiences, like when the GM said we needed a 15 to hit the Kobolds, and Jeremy rolled for his Barbarian, looked disappointed, and said "He missed." I asked him what he'd rolled. It was a nine. I then explained that 9, +5 BAB, +1 for his magic sword was 15, and that was without even adding in his STR!
The older teens, the kids, and us "old folks" all seemed to have fun. I asked Jeremy & Taylor (the oldest two) what they thought, and they said it was fun. The only person who seemed a little disappointed was Rick, the GM. He asked Keith (the youngest player) what he liked about D&D, and Keith replied "Killing stuff!" (I guess he hasn't learned about taking their stuff, yet, but give him time!)
After saying hello, meeting the two of his kids that I hadn't seen before, lunch at my house, Thanksgiving dinner at his mom's house, and generally meeting his relatives and schmoozing, we cleaned off the kitchen table, and set up to play some D&D. Since nothing was prepared, no one had characters, etc., he pretty much had me help the players get some PCs, and he winged a quick sort-of adventure...
Rick's two sons, Brian (who I'd met once before, five years ago or so), and his little brother, Keith, had played before, with their dad, but Keith was barely old enough to understand the "To-Hit" mechanic, and was often more interested in "fighting the action figures" with each other... Not sure on his age, but it was single digit.
[Edit: He's seven; see NYRickGrant's post, below.]Kniall's two sons, both of whom were teenagers, also played. They had heard of the game, but I don't think that either one of them had ever played, before. Since time was short, we skipped skills and equipment, except for weapons and armor. We covered BAB, HPs, generated stats, and selected races & classes. Once we had PCs, we began.
We had a Half-Orc Barbarian (Jeremy, Kniall's oldest son), a Human Fighter (Taylor, his youngest), a Druid (whose race I forget) played by Brian, and a Dwarven Fighter played by Keith, along with my Elven Rogue, all at first level, to start...
We began in the newly-formed kingdom of (I forget the name, but it had one -- honest!), where we worked for Lord Karl. Rick (the GM) briefly described how we had fought the Snow Queen (who the commoners also "got wrong" and called her the "Burger Queen"), and the Orcs of the Black Talon, and made a big to-do over how the people of this little fiefdom kow-towed to us, every time they saw us, 'cause we were so famous, and what-not...
Then he described us being in this town just being built, and the guy who ran the bar, and how he used to be an adventurer, and how he liked us, and so on. Jeremy (H-O Barb's player) asked why we didn't get free drinks, then... The GM showed his mastery of the game by replying that some of us could drink a lot, and the poor man hadda make a profit!
Anyway, we were sittin' in the bar, when the barkeep came over and told us that Fegin, a man he knew and trusted, had reported that a scout had found signs of Black Talon Orcs up in the hills, nearby. Meanwhile, the barkeep kept watching (and swatting) a young man who was trying to eat the nuts kept on the bar... So my PC asked who this Fegin was, and where we could find him, and bought the youngster his own bowl of nuts (at which point the GM described his rapturous response of "Oh! I'm not going to eat these! I'm going to take them home and frame them, and hang them on the wall!"). Then he went back to trying to eat the ones on the bar, and getting swatted by the barkeep...
Anyway, we found out where Fegin should be, and headed off there, while the GM described the town being built. Along the way, he described the H-O being bumped into by a dirty, shifty little character. Jeremy (the Barbarian's player) looked at the GM funny, but didn't say anything. I said I was looking to see if the NPC had swiped his purse, and rolled a 1!
Fortunately, Taylor, the Human Fighter, quickly said that he was making a Spot, too, and rolled better... The GM said "You see the shifty little man bump into the Half-Orc, and you see Eredave look around at him, but he doesn't see anything, but YOU look around at the same time, and see that he has the purse that used to be on the Half-Orc's belt in his hand!" Surprisingly, the H-O had nothing to say, but Taylor's PC quickly apprehended the thief.
The thief quickly made some protestations that no one believed, until Eredave wrapped a chain around his neck, then he offered us some information to get himself out of the jam... It seems he had heard about a planned revolt against Lord Karl. My PC quickly decided that Lord Karl needed to hear about this from the horse's mouth, so off we went to find him...
The GM then asked how we were securing the prisoner, and had me describe my Manriki-Gusari, and talked about equipment, and personalizing PCs. He then described our heading away from the wall where we'd been going to find Fegin, and going to what would be the Lord's hall, when it was finished. Lord Karl wasn't there. So I asked one of the workmen where he was, got directions, and was told to tell him that so-and-so engineer needed more supplies of (whatever). So we followed directions, found Lord Karl, and had the thief tell him about the rumours that he had heard.
One of the architects seemed to take too much interest in this tale, and when I told the Lord that so-and-so engineer needed supplies X, the Lord sent him off to attend to it, and he didn't want to go. I succeeded in a Sense Motive roll, and didn't trust him. We informed Lord Karl of that, as well as the rumours of the Black Talon Orcs, and he was much worried...
He asked what we knew, and we said not much, yet, but we had been on our way to check on it. He said that, with this revolt, he'd have his hands full, so he'd leave the orcs to us. We left the thief with him and his guards (along with warnings not to trust the architect), and went off, once again, to find this man, Fegin.
Arriving at the walls where the barkeep had told me Fegin was stationed, we asked the first guard we met where he was, and were told he was up on such-and-such wall, standing guard. We went up, found him, and got the story from him.
He'd sent out a young scout, someone he trusted, and he'd come back with a scrap of cloth with the Black Talon on it. We asked where from, and he told us in the hills just to the north of town. I asked what we'd need to get there, and he said not much, it was just a short walk, but if we were going, he'd like to go with us. I asked about the young scout, but he said he was a good man, but probably too green to fight Black Talon Orcs, so we agreed to meet back "here" in an hour, and went to get our gear.
This was quickly followed by a short, glossed-over hike up into the hills, where Fegin told us that this was the area the scout had found the scrap in. We then began looking for tracks, etc. Unfortunately, I kept rolling 1s, a lot, which was good for the new players, I guess... We finally found some tracks, but I couldn't tell then from a rabbit's! One of the other fighters finally identified it as a kobold's.
The next thing you know, we concluded the adventure with a daylight fight against a small horde of screaming kobolds. Almost everyone got to dodge their sling stones, and waste a couple (except me, but I took out the largest clump of them with a Tanglefoot Bag, creating some prisoners). At the end of our first session, we found poor Fegin dead in a trap...
Next, we advanced our PCs to fifth level, got better armour and a magic weapon, more HPs and AC, and continued the same plotline. We were still on the trail of the old Black Talon Orcs; much feared, but not seen for years. Now, we were trying to track down the kobolds to their lair, knowing that they usually didn't come out in sunlight.
The Half-Orc & Human Fighters went back to town (and out of this story), along with the kobold prisoners, while my Elven Ranger/Rogue, the Druid, and the Dwarven Fighter continued on. Eventually, we found an entrance to an underground complex, and started searching for traps, etc. I rolled more 1s...
We found a complex, several doors, overheard some Orcs yelling about their stupid Kobold slaves, and doors slamming. We sneaked around for a while, and the young players spread out too much. The youngest, hearing Orcs coming, opened a door, charged through it, knocked one down with the door, and killed another with his attack. Then more orcs started pouring in through another door... You guessed it, the much-feared but little-seen Black Talon Orcs, in droves!
Despite their superior numbers, running didn't seem to occur to the kids playing, but Keith's Dwarf did at least shut and lock the door he had just charged through, so the orcs beat on that one with the head of one of their fellows...
Meanwhile, I locked the door that I had been listening at, and the Druid and I moved up to take on the rest, while the Dwarf moved up behind us on his turn.
Standing at the corner of a wall (for partial cover), I let fly with another Tanglefoot Bag, trying to seal the doorway, but only managed to glue one Orc. Fortunately, between the three of us, we managed to do for the rest, then grab a tunic (with the Black Talon symbol on it), and the GM and I finally managed to convince the young players that we didn't know how many Orcs were behind those doors, so we'd better scoot back to Lord Karl, and tell him what we'd found... so that concluded our short campign.
Along the way, we had quite a bit of comedy (like my PC searching for traps, rolling 1s, and commenting that "If I find any traps, it's the HARD way!"). There were also some teaching experiences, like when the GM said we needed a 15 to hit the Kobolds, and Jeremy rolled for his Barbarian, looked disappointed, and said "He missed." I asked him what he'd rolled. It was a nine. I then explained that 9, +5 BAB, +1 for his magic sword was 15, and that was without even adding in his STR!
The older teens, the kids, and us "old folks" all seemed to have fun. I asked Jeremy & Taylor (the oldest two) what they thought, and they said it was fun. The only person who seemed a little disappointed was Rick, the GM. He asked Keith (the youngest player) what he liked about D&D, and Keith replied "Killing stuff!" (I guess he hasn't learned about taking their stuff, yet, but give him time!)
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